| My job as a coach is to help each athlete rid herself of all doubts, so she can believe in herself and her abilities.
When I was named the assistant coach in 1996, I was not the technical, experienced Olympic coach I thought the committee would choose. There was a little part of me that was suprised I had been selected until they brought me into a room and told me that my main responsibility was to put this group together and make them a team. I was selected to motivate this group of people who had only competed against each other and trained under various coaches in different parts of the country. It was a very important role that I took seriously. I think that is what helped add to what we did in 1996.
All of these really strong sports psychology words like "believe" are scriptural. Perseverance, confidence, all of those things are Biblical. So, whenever I really try to focus on something or really teach something, I always make sure it's on solid ground and that there is some part of scripture that goes along with that. "Believe" obviously is one of the strongest scriptural words you can use along with "faith."
I firmly believe in Philippians 4:13 that says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Tagged on to that is that it still has to be in God's timing. The inner strength that you can get from really having faith in that scripture verse is something that I feel I have really learned over time.
It is easy to help an athlete succeed when the athlete is up, motivated and feeling good about themselves. The challenge comes when a talented athlete is full of doubt.
Because I'm an Olympic coach, people bring their children to my gym for me to put kids on the Olympic team. I am very much a realist and I know that every four years only seven gymnasts in the entire United States are going to make the women's Olympic team. The opportunity is very small, unfortunately. But that is the way it is. So, if I only coach for the Olympic opportunity I would be doing it for a shallow reason and it would probably at times feel like there was no hope. But when you think about affecting their lives and teaching them life lessons that they can use forever and ever, then the day to day becomes more important.
The material part of the rewards of coaching is seeing your athletes on the medal stand. But the most rewarding thing is making a difference in young girls lives and helping them reach their goals and potential.
|
